Found 15 March 1897, on beach between Hartlepool and Seaton Carew.
On a piece of strong paper:
Foundered off Holy Isle, the S.S. Elsie. Six lives lost. Four survivors clinging to the mast…
The remainder of the message was torn away, with only a single further word visible: “soon”. The Holy Island of Lindisfarne is a tidal island off the Northumberland coast, around 80 miles north of the beach where the message was found.
[Hartlepool Mail, 16 March 1897]
Messages from the Sea 